11:17 PM,
Jan. 3, 2013

Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin.

Written by

Michael Pointer | | Indianapolis Star
|

Joe Tiller had just been named the offensive coordinator at Washington State University in late 1989 when he got a call from a player he coached at Purdue a few years earlier. ¶ Kevin Sumlin had been an overachieving linebacker for the Boilermakers, going from walk-on to one of the best players on the team. After working in the insurance industry for a few months following graduation, he wanted to give coaching a try. ¶ "I told him the approach you should take is being (a graduate assistant)," said Tiller, who later returned to Purdue and became the school's all-time winningest head coach. "You ...